My History of Drug Abuse and Recovery

Charles Slack, Ph.D.

In the early 1960s, when it was still legal, I began experimenting with
the drug Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD). At first, my drug use could
be called genuine research. Timothy Leary and others at Harvard obtained
the drug from Sandos Laboratories in Switzerland administering it, initially,
under controlled conditions. However, as history relates, things rapidly
got out of hand.

Personally, the results were disastrous. I took other hallucinogens
and graduated to opiates, barbiturates and large quantities of alcohol.
During this period, 1961-76 my CV is deceiving. Actually, my career went
into reverse. Working my way down the academic ladder, I finished up in
Alabama writing test items for a medical school. They gave me a title but
the job really consisted of ghost-writing exam questions. Through drug-addict
doctors, I got the supplies my habit demanded. Finally, I lost even that
job, spent nights in the drunk-tank of the Birmingham City Jail where I
amused guards with stories about once being a Harvard professor.

Through the efforts of a criminologist (Professor Alex Bassin of the
University of Florida), I found my way into "Twelve-step" programs.
Although I had initial difficulty identifying as an addict/alcoholic -
after all, I had a Ph.D. and they didnít - nevertheless, I became completely
alcohol and drug free. No mind- or mood-altering drugs for me since 3 March
1976. To date, facilitating my recovery, I have attended over five thousand
meetings and spent considerable time helping others to stay clean and sober.

In October 1976, when I was seven months off drugs, I migrated to Australia
to work in the Welfare Department of the State of Victoria. It was not
easy to adjust to a new job, a new country, and a new state of mental
health all at the same time, but I was able to keep my job and stay clean
and sober. In 1980 I became a born-again Christian, received the Holy Spirit
and found great comfort and release from compulsion. Jesus set me free
indeed! My pastor says I continue to make spiritual progress. I am an elder
in and treasurer of my church.

Over the past twenty-one years, Lord Jesus has often used me to bring
drug addicts to Him. I have worked extensively in rehabilitation programs
and groups of all kinds including drug rehab centers and the Department
of Corrective Services of Western Australia where I held recovery meetings
in the historic old Fremantle Prison,

Currently, my wife and I hold seminars on recovery from alcoholism and
drug abuse for church leaders and pastors from all over Western Australia